Astronaut Megan McArthur, 1st woman to pilot SpaceX Dragon, retires after 25-year NASA career

Astronaut Megan McArthur has retired from NASA, ending more than two decades with the space agency.

McArthur launched on two spaceflights, logging 213 days in orbit across her nearly 25 years, and held leadership positions at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. She lifted off on her first mission in 2009, aboard space shuttle Atlantis on the STS-125 mission — the final servicing flight to the Hubble Space Telescope. She later became the first woman to pilot SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft, which ferried her to the International Space Station (ISS) for her first and only long-duration mission, in 2021.

Both assignments solidified McArthur's place in NASA history as the last astronaut to physically interface with Hubble, and one of the first to steer the space agency into an era of commercial spaceflight.

McArthur was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, and moved frequently around the country with her family as a "Navy kid," according to a NASA statement. She studied aerospace engineering at UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) before earning a doctorate in oceanography from UC San Diego's Scripps Institution. She was selected in 2000 as a member of NASA's newest astronaut class at the time.

She is married to NASA astronaut Bob Behnken, who piloted Crew Dragon Endeavor on SpaceX's first crewed flight, Demo-2, in 2020. McArthur launched on the same spacecraft just under a year later for her crew rotation stint aboard the ISS.

That mission, Crew-2, launched in April 2021 and was SpaceX's second operational mission to the orbital lab. McArthur and three crewmates spent six months aboard the ISS, where she served as flight engineer for Expeditions 65/66. While on orbit, she supported station maintenance and research investigations into human physiology, robotics and materials science.

McArthur flew aboard Atlantis in May 2009 as a part of NASA's final flight to conduct repairs and upgrades to Hubble. During the two-week STS-125 mission, McArthur operated the shuttle's robotic arm to grapple the space telescope while her crewmates worked on the observatory over the course of five spacewalks.

Hubble was already approaching its second decade in space during STS-125. Thanks to that servicing mission, the iconic observatory has provided unprecedented views of the cosmos and discoveries over the more than 15 years since McArthur's mission, and continues to operate today. NASA credits McArthur as the last person to "touch" the observatory after releasing Hubble from Atlantis's robotic arm at the end of the STS-125 mission, NASA's statement adds.

"Her contributions have helped shape the future of human space exploration, and we are incredibly grateful for her service," said acting JSC Director Steve Koerner in the statement.

Between her two spaceflights, McArthur joined the ranks of NASA leadership at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. In 2017, she began her position as the assistant director of flight operations for the ISS, and in 2019 became deputy division chief of the Astronaut Office, where she supported astronaut training and development.

In 2022, McArthur joined JSC's public visitor facility, Space Center Houston, as chief science officer, where she works to promote spaceflight and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) themes to students and families visiting the center. She will continue this role after her NASA departure.

"It was an incredible privilege to serve as a NASA astronaut, working with scientists from around the world on cutting-edge research that continues to have a lasting impact here on Earth and prepares humanity for future exploration at the moon and Mars," McArthur said in the statement. "Seeing our beautiful planet from space makes it so clear how fragile and precious our home is, and how vital it is that we protect it. I am grateful I had the opportunity to contribute to this work, and I'm excited to watch our brilliant engineers and scientists at NASA conquer new challenges and pursue further scientific discoveries for the benefit of all."